Sixth Sunday of Easter
Year C
25 May 2025
INTRODUCTION
Good morning/evening. My name is ………. and I would like to wish you a warm welcome to our Mass at
Holy Spirit Church, Kurri Kurri/ St Joseph’s, Cessnock/ St Francis Xavier’s Abermain/ St Michael’s, Wollombi/
The priest celebrating with us today is Father James and Father Solomon and assisting him is Deacon Viane.
We are nearing the end of the Season of Easter. Throughout we have heard readings of how Christ’s activity in the world has moved from the historical Jesus himself to the living Church. It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that this is possible, and it features again in today’s readings. The Church TODAY has come alive and is being formed into a body that will do all that Jesus commands. This weekend is also World Children’s Day, a direction from the Holy See.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And with your spirit.
Brethren (brothers and sisters), let us acknowledge our sins,
and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.
I confess to almighty God
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned,
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,
through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.
May almighty God have mercy on us,
forgive us our sins,
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
V. Kyrie, eléison. R. Kyrie, eléison.
V. Christe, eléison. R. Christe, eléison.
V. Kyrie, eléison. R. Kyrie, eléison.
Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to people of good will.
We praise you,
we bless you,
we adore you,
we glorify you,
we give you thanks for your great glory,
Lord God, heavenly King,
O God, almighty Father.
Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son,
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us;
you take away the sins of the world,
receive our prayer;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father,
have mercy on us.
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
Let us pray.
Grant, almighty God,
that we may celebrate with heartfelt devotion these days of joy,
which we keep in honour of the risen Lord,
and that what we relive in remembrance
we may always hold to in what we do.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Acts 15:1-2, 22-29
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles
It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and ourselves not to burden you beyond what is essential.
Some men came down from Judaea and taught the brothers, 'Unless you have yourselves circumcised in the tradition of Moses you cannot be saved.' This led to disagreement, and after Paul and Barnabas had a long argument with these men it was arranged that Paul and Barnabas and others of the church should go up to Jerusalem and discuss the problem with the apostles and elders.
Then the apostles and elders decided to choose delegates to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; the whole church concurred with this. They chose Judas known as Barsabbas and Silas, both leading men in the brotherhood, and gave them this letter to take with them:
'The apostles and elders, your brothers, send greetings to the brothers of pagan birth in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. We hear that some of our members have disturbed you with their demands and have unsettled your minds. They acted without any authority from us, and so we have decided unanimously to elect delegates and to send them to you with Barnabas and Paul, men we highly respect who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accordingly, we are sending you Judas and Silas, who will confirm by word of mouth what we have written in this letter. It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves not to saddle you with any burden beyond these essentials: you are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from fornication. Avoid these, and you will do what is right. Farewell.'
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Ps 66:2-3, 5-6, 8
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!
O God, be gracious and bless us
and let your face shed its light upon us.
So will your ways be known upon earth
and all nations learn your saving help. R.
Let the nations be glad and exult
for you rule the world with justice.
With fairness you rule the peoples,
you guide the nations on earth. R.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
May God still give us his blessing
till the ends of the earth revere him. R.
Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23
A reading from the book of the Apocalypse
He showed me the holy city coming down out of heaven.
In the spirit, the angel took me to the top of an enormous high mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven. It had all the radiant glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel or crystal-clear diamond. The walls of it were of a great height, and had twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates there was an angel, and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; on the east there were three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
I saw that there was no temple in the city since the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb were themselves the temple, and the city did not need the sun or the moon for light, since it was lit by the radiant glory of God and the Lamb was a lighted torch for it.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
John 14:23
Alleluia, alleluia!
All who love me will keep my words,
and my Father will love them and we will come to them.
Alleluia!
John 14:23-29
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
The Holy Spirit will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.
Jesus said to his disciples:
'If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him
and make our home with him.
Those who do not love me do not keep my words.
And my word is not my own;
it is the word of the one who sent me.
I have said these things to you
while still with you;
but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all I have said to you.
Peace I bequeath to you,
my own peace I give you,
a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me say:
I am going away, and shall return.
If you loved me you would have been glad to know that I am going to the Father,
for the Father is greater than I.
I have told you this now, before it happens,
so that when it does happen you may believe.'
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
At the words that follow, up to and including 'the Virgin Mary', all bow.
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended into hell;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting. Amen.
Celebrant
God calls us to live the gospel faithfully as Jesus did. Let us now pray for others and ourselves.
Commentator
We pray that church leaders, like the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, that they may work to overcome divisions among the faithful for the good of the Gospel. (Extended pause) Lord hear us:
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray that our nation will move forward in developing respectful relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the non-indigenous community. (Extended pause) Lord hear us:
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray that people in abusive relationships may receive the support they need to live in safety. (Extended pause) Lord hear us:
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray that this country will enact laws that welcome and protect refugees who live in fear of deportation. (Extended pause) Lord hear us:
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray that each one of us will share Jesus’ message of hope and comfort those who are troubled or afraid. (Extended pause) Lord hear us:
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for all in our Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle who have been affected by flooding, whose homes are damaged, whose lives are disrupted, and whose hearts are heavy—
may they find comfort, strength, and hope in God’s presence and in the care of others. (Extended pause) Lord hear us:
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for all children, especially those who endure neglect, abuse, exploitation and lack of opportunity that they may receive caring supports that promote growth and well-being. (Extended pause) Lord hear us:
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for the recently deceased and those whose anniversary of death occurs at this time that they will take their place in the New Jerusalem. (Extended pause) Lord hear us:
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
Celebrant
Loving God, you dwell within us and enable us to keep your word: hear the prayers that we bring before you through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right and just.
It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
at all times to acclaim you, O Lord,
but (on this night / on this day / in this time) above all
to laud you yet more gloriously,
when Christ our Passover has been sacrificed.
For he is the true Lamb
who has taken away the sins of the world;
by dying he has destroyed our death,
and by rising, restored our life.
Therefore, overcome with paschal joy,
every land, every people exults in your praise
and even the heavenly Powers, with the angelic hosts,
sing together the unending hymn of your glory,
as they acclaim:
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
We proclaim your Death, O Lord,
and profess your Resurrection
until you come again.
Almighty ever-living God,
who restore us to eternal life in the Resurrection of Christ,
increase in us, we pray, the fruits of this paschal Sacrament
and pour into our hearts the strength of this saving food.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Lord be with
R. And with your Spirit.
Bow down for the blessing.
May God, who by the Resurrection of his Only Begotten Son
was pleased to confer on you
the gift of redemption and of adoption,
give you gladness by his blessing.
Amen.
May he, by whose redeeming work
you have received the gift of everlasting freedom,
make you heirs to an eternal inheritance.
Amen.
And may you, who have already risen with Christ
in Baptism through faith,
by living in a right manner on this earth,
be united with him in the homeland of heaven.
Amen.
And may the blessing of almighty God,
the Father, and the Son,+ and the Holy Spirit,
come down on you and remain with you for ever.
Amen.
Go forth, the Mass is ended.
Thanks be to God.
© The scriptural quotations are taken from the Jerusalem Bible, published and copyright 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday & Co Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. The English translation of the Psalm Responses, the Alleluia and Gospel Verses, and the Lenten Gospel Acclamations, and the Titles, Summaries, and Conclusion of the Readings, from the Lectionary for Mass © 1997, 1981, 1968, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. The prayers are from the English Translation of the Roman Missal © 2010 International Committee on English in the Liturgy Inc. (ICEL). All rights reserved.